New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State. The Queen's representative in this country is the Governor-General who has all the powers of the Queen in relation to New Zealand. Although an integral part of the process of government, the Queen and the Governor-General remain politically neutral and do not get involved in the political contest.

New Zealand government has three branches: the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Power is divided between these branches, preventing any one from acting against the basic constitutional principles of the country. Although each branch has a different role, they are not totally separate from each other.

Detailed Information:

New Zealand has a single chamber of Parliament known as the House of Representatives. The principal functions of Parliament are to:
- enact laws;
- provide a government;
- supervise the government's administration;
- allocate funding for government agencies and services;
- redress grievances by way of petition.

Parliament is elected using the mixed member proportional (MMP) system. The Government is formed after an election by the party or coalition which can command a majority of the votes in the House of Representatives. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister.

The Government is accountable to Parliament for its actions and policies. So Ministers are answerable to Parliament for their own actions and policies and for the actions and policies of the departments and state agencies under their jurisdiction.

Most Ministers are members of Cabinet, which is the main decision-making body of the government.

Much of the business of government is performed by ministries, government departments and other government agencies who are collectively known as the public sector.

In New Zealand the courts function is based on the constitutional principle that the judicial decision makers, the Judiciary, are independent of the policy makers, the Executive and Parliament. Judges make decisions by interpreting the laws which are passed by Parliament. Parliament passes laws that represent policy decisions which reflect the intention or interests of the citizens collectively. Hence the laws, once passed, are to be enforced as the formal expression of society's standards.